Thread: And another Dodge

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I just said 273 because I would like a small V8 in the truck. 318 would be fine also, as it is the engine that cost Chrysler the least money on warranty repairs of all the motors Chrysler ever produced. I would want the V8 SOUND more than anything and maybe a little warm-over from hot rod parts. I wouldn't even care if it wasn't that fast, I just like the crisp, healthy sound of a well-built and well-tuned V8, one that just hums when you cruise and makes you smile.
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Wait a couple of days, he will change his mind again. He is as bad as I am.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Wait a couple of days, he will change his mind again. He is as bad as I am.

That's not fair, you know some inside info Lol. This weekend I may have scored a 318 2wd Dakota, I have to check it out yet.

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

That's not fair, you know some inside info Lol. This weekend I may have scored a 318 2wd Dakota, I have to check it out yet.

Right on. So the Dakota frame is a two piece frame with a weld joint that mates the front and back halves under the cab. If you're doing a frame swap the problem with the back half is the wheel arches go up and force you to raise the bed floor to where you have a really shallow bed. So what you could do is mate the front half of the Dakota frame to the back half of the old frame and then swap the rearend. If I was going to pull my cab I probably would have gone that route.

I finally got some time to get the motor out of the 48, I'd like to find the guy who gave the approval of the bell housing design on these things and beat him behind the wood shed.You have to drop the clutch and flywheel out the bottom because it's enclosed on the top.The good news is all clutch related things look new and are in great shape. Next Saturday I'll check out another 218 I found on FB for $50 that he says it has almost no cyl wear and decide whether to run that motor or rebuild this one. If I use that one if I can get by with a re ring job vs boring and pistons in this one. The Dakota stuff will be getting used on one of the other Dodges that I picked up before this one.

Good progress! Nice looking pooch, too.

Originally Posted by falconvan

Good progress! Nice looking pooch, too.

Thanks, thats Rosie, she is about 10 months old and is quite the little helper

She definitely looks like a wealth of technical knowledge

A song just popped into my head.. "a whole lotta rosie".. just couldn't get it out now! LOL..

Sung with an Aussi accent!

Nice work Seth! Have you guys been getting the great cold fronts too?

Well, I went and picked up the other 218, seller was a little more optimistic about the condition of the engine than I was. It's in pretty much the exact same shape as the one out of my 48 so I'm going to go ahead and rebuild the one I have. I already sold the carburetor and oil filter canister off of the motor I picked up for $50 so I'm only out a few hours of drive time.

Well I'm pretty committed to the 218 now. I got the block and crank back from the machine shop, block bored .030 and .010 .010 on the crank. He put new exhaust seats in , new guides in and ground the valves as well. I had had most of the parts bought from line suppliers but my bearing guy said they they were out of the .010 mains so I told the machine shop to get the bearings for it instead. Later he called me and said that one of the cam bushings I got him was out of round so I told him to get them as well. When I got the bill, everything was as expected except for the bill for the bearings was $373! I about shat myself. Mains from Summit are $130 and rods are easy to get for $60 and cam bushings are averaging $45 for a total of $235. Lesson learned on not asking their price thinking that they would be in the ball park of others. I'm still grumpy about it.

Any one that thinks machine shops don't make money on parts is really wrong

That's how they keep the lights on and food on the table at home. If they can't make some bucks they will close.. like all the shops around me! And we don't know how many 218's are being built or if that part number is an A-1 listing or a D-4.. in other words how many are being sold?

In any event, it's done and your on your way to reassembly - the best part of the build!